The ruler's "imperial manifestation," if it existed in Moldavia, should be visible in court ceremonials and rituals, such as coronations, weddings, feasts, processions, etc. However, extant sources indicate no imperial-like ceremonials for any of these events.1 13 The only ceremonies which may be resembled to anything imperial are Stephen 's retums from battles to Suceava. These returns, which resembled triumphal entries, 114 seem to have been based on a recipe which was enacted after a military victOty. There are four instances when sources discuss these
1 1 1 For a study ofthe city Iandscape and its reflection in medieval imaginary, see: Alexandru Pinzar,
"Suceava in imaginarul medieval - Suceava in medieval imaginary," Analeie Putnei 2 (2008):
25-50.
1 12 Historians often mixed the space of Suceava's fortress with that of Suceava's city. This confusion was deepened by inaccurate translations of sources which mixed the terms "fortress·' and "city." Stefan Gorovei made the situation clearer by taking the original versions of some of these sources and explaining how they make a clear delimitation between what was city and what was fortress. For his study, see: Stefan S. Gorovei, "Cetatea de scaun a Sucevei. 0 ipo1ezä - The Suceava fortress. A hypothesis," Analeie Putnei 2 (2008): 1 5-24.
1 1 3 Coronations and weddings are most often studied. Bogdan-Petru Maleon highlights that the hypothesis according to which a whole ceremonial following the Byzantine or Western model used to be perfonned since the foundation of the Moldavian state, should be excluded. See:
Bogdan-Petru Maleon, "Observarii privind dobändirea puterii princiare in Moldova epocii
�tefaniene'· (Some Remarks on Gaining the Princely Power in Moldavia during Stephen the Great Epoch} Analeie Putnei I (20 1 1}: 7-20. For information on the wedding of Stephen to his
"imperial" wife Maria of Mangup, see, for example: Maria-Venera Rädulescu, "Episoade din istoria Moldovei redate pe cahle descoperite Ia Curtea Domneasca de Ia Vaslui: nunta lui Stefan cel Mare cu Maria de Maugop" (The wedding of Stephen the Great and Maria of Mangup.
Images on glaze stove tiles discovered at Vaslui (I S'h century}, Studii �i Materiale de Istarie Medie 1 4 (2006): 8 1 -100.
1 14 For a concise article concerning this subject, see: Maria Magdalena Szekely, "Atributele imperiale ale cetätii Suceava" (Imperial attributes of the Suceava fortress) Analeie Putnei 2 (2008): 5-14.
"entries:" the entries of
1 465,
of1473,
of1475,
and of148 1 .
The four known"entries" appear in most of the chronicles written during Stephen's reign and they present the prince as a triumphant Ieader of armies:
• The entry of
1465,
after Stephen conquered the fortress of Chilia:And then he [Stephen] returned with all his army in his seat of Suceava. And he ordered all the metropolitans and the bishops and all the priests to thank.
God for what was given to him by God A1mightly . . . 115
• The
1473
entry, which took p1ace after Stephen victory over the Wallachian Prince Radu the Fair:And he took the wife of Prince Radu and his daughter, his only-bom, and all the treasures and the vestments and his flags . . . And then he retumed to his seat of Suceava. And then, the metropo1itan with all the clergy made him a wondetful and beautiful greeting, but they especially praised God for all the gifts He had given to his servant, Prince Stephen. 116
• The entry of
1 475
is probably the most famous one because it was preceded by the victory of Vaslui, where Stephen defeated the Ottoman army 1ed by Su1eyman Pasha. This entry is particu1ar1y important as it has an aura of imperialism:And their flags and !arge maces were taken away, more than
40
maces. And Prince Stephen returned as a bearer of victory with all his soldiers in his fortress Suceava and the Metropolitans and priests all came before him, holding the Gospels in their hands, praying and praising the Lord for all that has been given as a gift from the Almighty and blessing the tsar: <Long live the tsar! > 117• The entry of 148 1 was preceded by another victorious battle with Wallachia, which took place at Rämnic:
And Prince Stephen retumed from there as a bearer of victory with all his atmy and his boyars, in his seat of Suceava. And there, Prince Stephen made a great feast to the metropolitan, the bishops, his boyars and his entire army. And he named a Iot of
viteji1 1 8
and he gave a Iot of gifts and expensive vestments to his boyars and hisviteji
and his entire army. And he Iet all of them go home and he 115 "Anonymous Chronicle ofMoldavia," 14. This entry is also presented in the Chronicles of Puma numbers I and H, in the Romanian translation of the Chronicles of Puma, and also in the Moldavian-Polish Chronicles.1 16 "Anonymous Chronicle of Moldavia," 16. This entry is also presented in the Chronicle of Putna nurober I!, in the Moldavian-German Chronicle, and in the Moldavian-Polish Chronicle.
117 "Anonymous Chronicle of Moldavia," 16.
118 The title of viteaz (pl. viteji) is a higher title in the Moldavian army. For a description of the Moldavian army composition, see: Ioan Cup�a, Arta militarii a moldovenilor fn a douajumiitate a secolului al XV-Iea (!jtefan cel Mare) [The Moldavian military art in the second half of the fifteenth century (Stephen the Great)] (Bucharest: Editura Militarä a Ministerului fortelor Armare ale R.P.R., 1959), chapter Il Puterea militara a Moldovei [The military power of Moldavia], especially 20-28.
taught them to praise and bless the Lord for all that has happened, because it all came from God. 1 19
Reading these examples, one can notice that Stephen's entries in Suceava followed the recipe of a ritual: he entered the fortress with his army, was welcomed by the clergy, and a religious ceremony took place after the entrance. The entry in
1481
adds to this information: not only did a religious ceremony take place, but a feast was also organised where, probably, war plunder was distributed to the most significant soldiers, while others received higher titles as a result of their success in battle. But can one discuss a "triumphal entty?" Should one compare Roman or Byzantine triumphal entries to Stephen's entries based on extant sources, Moldavian entries seem rudimentary. Relevant elements of Stephen 's entries remain unknown, the most important of which is the triumphal route. The Constantinopolitan triumphal route was dictated by the city Iandscape and further on detailed by custom, 120 therefore, although standardised, it was prone to change. However, when studying the Moldavian case, it is easy to notice that there exist no indicators of the route or its changes, or of the ruler's stops - apart from the obvious stop at the church where the religious ceremony took place. Also, apart from the "Long Jive the tsar!" acclamation of the1475
entry, there are no other testimonies of acclamations, chants or intonations, all indispensable to triumphal entries. Similarly, while guilds would normally be involved in the decoration of the imperial route, in cleaning the streets and stewing them with flowers/
21 there are no visual sources in Moldavia to attest any type of preparation of the fortress for such a major, imperial-like event. Surely, considering the description of the entries in the Moldavian chronicles, it must be assumed that these were large-scale events, involving a !arge public.Regardless of all these gaps, one cannot decisively argue that Stephen's entries were not moulded on the model of triumphal entries. Suceava did not have a triumphal route, but neither did Constantinople or Rome have a standardised one.122 While one can argue that there was no standardised triumphal route in Suceava, one cannot argue that the route used by Stephen (whichever it was), was not meant to be triumphal. Moreover, the four above-presented sources indicate some aspects which can easily be l inked to imperial behaviour: Stephen retums from his expeditions with a significant amount of goods, including royal hostages such as the Wallachian ntler's wife and daughter; he participates in religious processions involving the Metropolitan, bishops and a !arge body of clergy; he disnibutes war booty and grants higher dignities. Whether these aspects sum up the behaviour of an emperor is irrelevant. What is relevant, instead, is that they are signs of ostentatious showing of power.
1 19 "Anonymous Chronicle ofMoldavia," 18.
120 Michael McConnick, Eternal Victory: Triumphal Rufership in Late Antiquity, Byzantium and the Early Medieval West (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), 208.
121 Ibidem, 205-208.
122 For a comparison between the triumphal landscape of Constantinople and Suceava, see: Szekely,
"Atributele imperiale ale ceti'liii Suceava," 7-8.
42
Stephen, the Last Emperor?
Stephen seemed to have wanted to surpass the status of an ordinary Moldavian ruler and resemble the image of an emperor - be it in the form of a Byzantine emperor or in the form of the Last Emperor. The myth of the Last Emperor bad a valuable significance in the history of Christianity and its importance rose on the eve of the Apocalypse, believed to begirr at the end of the fifteenth centmy. 123 The myth implied that a Roman emperor would have to live through a period of hardship and fight evil, in order to eventually defeat the enemy. Having defeated the enemy, he would suuender his imperial regalia to God and would thus put an end to the Roman Empire. The end of the world would follow, allowing the kingdom of God to be established.124 A nurober of significant rulers were identified with the Last Emperor, 125 especially in times of distress and negative expectations, and Stephen the Great was seemingly one of them. Because the myth of the Last Emperor was known in fifteenth-centmy Moldavia,126 one may deduct facts which, although scarce, point to Stephen as a ruler identified with the Last Emperor. In connection to this, the messianic aspect of the Mounted Procession of the Holy Cross (Fig. 20), a mural scene painted in the narthex of the Pätrauti Monastery, should be pointed out.
As a scene rarely depicted in orthodox iconography127 and much debated in historiography, this mural has been interpreted in several ways. Most historians conclude that it was intended to represent Stephen 's crusade agairrst bis Islamic enemies, as weil as a sign of the political and religious aspirations of the ruler. 128 The image illustrates a saintly mOtmted procession headed by a winged rider, identified in an inscription as the Arebangel Michael, who Jeans towards the rider close behind
123 Based on the calculations of Gennadius Scholarius frorn his 1472 Chronograph, the end of days were to arrive in 1492. See rnore: Maria Magdalena Szekely, "Stefan cel Mare �i sfär�itul lumii -Stephen the Great and the End of the World," Studii �i Materiale de Istarie Medie 2 1 (2003):
256.
124 More on the myth of the Last Ernperor in: Maria Ana Travassos Valdez, Historical Interpretations of the "Fifth Empire. " The Dynamics of Periodization from Daniel to Antonio Vieira, S.J (Studies in the History of Christiau Traditions, series ed.Robert J. Bast) (leiden:
Brill, 20 I I ), 208-223.
125 Such as Cbarlemagne or Frederick II. See: Ibidem, 2 1 1 .
126 The Apocalypse by Pseudo-Methodius of Patara coutaius the most widely-spread description of the Last Ernperor as an apocalyptic figure. Pseudo-Methodius' Apocalypse was also to be found in a manuscript frorn Nearn1 Monastery (now rnanuscript no. 135 at the Library ofthe Romanian Academy). See: Liviu Pilat, "Mesianism �i escatologie in imaginarul epocii lui Stefan cel Mare - Messianism and cschatology during the time of Stephen thc Great," Srudii �i Materiale de /'amiquite et du Moyen Age (Paris: College de France, 1968), 169-175.
43
him, identified as Constantine the Great in another inscription. F ollowing the Areharrgel and Constantine, there are the militaty saints George and Demetrius, followed themselves by a !arge group of other saints. In the upper right comer of the scene, in the sky, a bright white cross is visible, which gives meaning to the entire mural. The Mounted Procession of the Holy Cross illustrates the miraculous vision of the Holy Cross by Emperor Constantine: on the eve of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge against the Roman Emperor Maxentius, Constantine had a vision of the Cross, accompanied by the wording "in this sign, [you shall] conquer." He subsequently won the battle, operring the path towards Christianisation throughout the Roman Empire. In drawing a parallel with Constantine's victory over the pagans, a significant number of studies have linked the emperor's victory with an eventual victory of Stephen the Great over his pagan enemies - namely, the Ottomans.129
Fig. 20: The Mounted Procession ofthe Holy Cross, Paträuti Monastery. lmage source:
http://www.crestinortodox.ro (accessed: February 4, 2016)
The scene painted in the Paträuti Monastery offers insight into the various ideologies pursued by the mler,130 including the eschatological idea of the Last Emperor. While the scene was primarily interpreted by historians as an anti-Ottoman plea, it may also be seen as a representation of the last days in which the Last Emperor defeats his enemies. A parallel can be made between the Mounted Procession and the Russian icon of
Ecclesia mifitans,
painted after the conquest of 129 A !arge number ofhistorians referred to this imerprctation ofthe scene, starting with the alreadymentioned srudy of Andre Grabar. See some of the sn1dies referring to the anti-Ottoman significance of this scene in: Drägu\, Pictura muralä din Moldova, 13-16; Virgil Vätä�ianu, lstoria artei feudale fn Tarife Romane [The history of feudal art in the Romani an Principalities) I (Bucharest: Academiei, 1959), 806; !dem, Studii de artä veche romäneascii §i universal (Studies of old Romanian and universal art] (Bucharest: Meridiane, I 987), 5 1 ; Dan Zamfirescu, Neagoe Basarab !fi fnvafaturile ciitre fiul sau Theodosie: problemele controversate [Neagoe Basarab and his teachings to bis son Theodosie: controversial problems] (Bucharest: Minerva,
1973), 85-86.
130 At least three ideas may be noticed within the mural scene: the idea of an anti-Ottoman crusade;
that of following the Constantinian model; as well as the eschatological idea.
44
Kazan by Ivan IV of Russia in 1 552 (Fig. 2 1 ). In
Ecclesia militans,
lvan the Terrible follows the Archangel Michael in leading away a !arge group of military saints (including Constantine I) from the conquered city of Kazan and towards the New Jerusalem represented in the left corner of the icon. Based on this parallel, Liviu Pilat explains that the Moldavian scene of Paträuti is the representation of the taking of Jerusalem by earthly soldiers, before the New Jerusalem descends. 131 The historian explains that the final scope ofthe Orthodox Crusade was the Iiberation of Jerusalem, while the Iiberation of Constantino�
le was "just a stage, the final point being the Emperor's entrance in Jerusalem."1 2 While making this comparison, it should be stressed that Jerusalem may be identified with the image of the Cross (as in the scene of the Mounted Procession), especially in a monastery dedicated to the Holy Cross (as the Päträuti Monastery was). 133 Stephen the Great may thus be identified in the scene of the Mounted Procession of the Holy Cross with the Last Emperor, while liberating Jerusalem and allowing the end of days to begin.Fig. 2 I : Ecclesia Militans, Tretyakov Gallery. Image source: Wikimedia Foundation, http://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki!Biessed_Be_the_Host_of_the_King_of_Heaven#mediaviewer/
File:Biessed_Be_the_Host_of_the_King_of_Heaven%E2%80%A6_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg (accessed: January 4, 20 I 6)
One shall not ... forget the prince 's face!
The functions of images and iconography are varied and although they may initially seem to have a solely spiritual purpose, spirituality rarely remains the only attribute of images. One of the imperative functions of images is that of proclaiming and promoting power. Within every church commissioned by Stephen the Great, the northern wall of the naos usually accommodated the votive portrait of the ruler.
Facing the altar and highly visible to all participants at the mass, votive portraits 131 Sec the full explaoation in: Pilat, "Mesianism �i escatologie in imaginarul epocii lui �tefan cel
Mare," 1 1 1 - 1 13.
132 Ibidem, 1 12.
133 lbidem.
45
represented the donor while offering the model of the church to Christ. Being visible was a vital part of political life as it meant eligibility for public life. 134 Thus the visibility of the mler within a public (and holy) space such as a church or monastery was a needful strategy: art and visual means were part of creating a public persona and reputation. 135